5 Questions with Ethan Gordon

We tracked down famed underwater shooter and Editor at Large Ethan Gordon (hat tip image) to get his take on underwater photography and the future of his industry:

1. UW photography has changed from film to digital and with it an entire industry, your take?

Digital photography has definitely "upped" the game. Now amateurs can accomplish what only the pros could do before. However, this also works to the advantage of the pros - we can now do things we never thought possible before. I think it has also been great for diving in general - there are now lots of divers who are enthralled by their point and shoot digital camera results - this keeps them diving. Remember the days when people used to travel with a bag full of film, only to return home to find out they had their camera set wrong all week?

2. As harder dive sites and rarer animals are recorded at a seemingly record pace, are we running out of new things to shoot?

It's getting harder to find new things to shoot, but we'll probably never run out of those. On the other hand, this might be a good time to take a new look at sites and creatures we've taken for granted.

3. Innovation vs status quo, what's your take on the new generation of UW shooters?

I think there is a new, very talented generation of UW shooters out there. They're tech savvy, creative and hungry to shoot.

4. Latest promising tech for shooters, do you have a favorite?

The new generation of digital TTL systems will revolutionize UW photography once again. Gone will be the days of having to think about your aperture and distance to subject. The electronics are almost there... maybe they've already arrived.

5.Crystal ball time-what's the future of UW photography and magazines that serve these images?

A sad reality hit me recently when I was presenting a slide show to a local Audubon chapter. I was showing slides of sharks and talking about the woes of shark finning. I was shocked when I realized that almost no one in the room had ever heard of this atrocity. The group was largely made up of non-divers, but I falsely assumed that this was a known problem.

The underwater photography out there in magazines today is the best ever. But, if we want to see it continue... the underwater environment continue to be spectacular, then everyone that subscribes to a dive magazine has to convince their friends (non-divers) to start to take an interest too - before it's too late. And, every diver that doesn't support the mission of these magazines by subscribing, well, shame on them.

5 Questions with a Shark Diver

We caught up with Shark Diver Derek Heasley owner of the online underwater image site Sea Pixels. When he's not shooting some of the closest shark shots on the planet he's usually to be found in Ireland. He just stepped off a 14 day adventure in Socorros with the Nautilus Explorer.

1. What draws you to sharks?

They are shaped beautifully. Just look at the curves on them. They are streamlined for perfect hunting. I get a huge thrill taking images of this shape in motion. From a tiger sharks snout to a basking sharks mouth. There is a lot to see.

2. How hard is it to shoot sharks vs say, blennys?

Blennys are beautiful also.They generally stay in their own area and pop their little heads out to see whats going on.  Always a close background in the image.  Sharks are always on the prowl and open water is where their at.  Blennys tend to be easier by their nature.  Stay still and a 105mm macro lens, your sure to get a good image.  With sharks its a different ball-game.  I mostly stay still when the sharks are around and use either 10-22mm or 18-55mm lens.  If your shooting
upwards, watch out for your air bubbles in the frame.

3. Favourite shark story?

Coordinating a photo shoot with a great white and a diver. We noticed the great white sharks were coming up to try catch the bait on the surface. We were cage diving at Guadalupe with Shark Diver. But myself and Colin Ball from England arranged that when I give him the thumbs up sign, that he was to face me and put his two thumbs up while I captured the great white which was right behind him...We couldn't have planned it any more precise. I couldn't have laughed anymore while taking the images:)

4. Your take on shark finning and what to do about it?

Its like somebody coming up to you and cutting your arms and legs off.Then walking away.I think there must be a huge demand for these fins. You and I know that if you eat shark fins its no more going to cure you and make you healthy than it is if you drink pints of Guinness...If there was a pro active government agency in country's where shark finning takes place. A simple education system that categorically list benefits of NOT finning.  So education is key.

5. Where's your next dive adventure?

Well, I live in Ireland, so there is plenty of good diving here. Abroad, I think the Coco Islands for the Hammerheads.

Editors Note: We could not agree with you more!

Underwater Website Of The Week

Daniel Botelho is from Rio de Janeiro "Land of the Carnival".

It's also the land of truly vibrant colors, which would explain the images in Daniels website all of which you'll probably need a pair of old school Ray-Bans to look at.

If you're like us you measure your time underwater in glorious weeks spent in exotic locals with dollar beers and lot's of sharks. If you're not perhaps these images will lead you there.

Welcome to your Underwater Moment of Zen..Rio Style!

Shark Diver Featured at Aquarium of the Pacific

IRVINE, CA- A precarious population of great white sharks and the ongoing scientific research intended to secure their survival is the subject of Island of the Great White Shark, a just completed documentary film by RTSea Productions. The high definition video production will receive an exclusive V.I.P. premiere on January 22nd at the Aquarium of the Pacific, located in Long Beach, California.

The event highlights a three-year effort by filmmaker Richard Theiss to provide the first comprehensive look at the great white sharks found at the remote Mexican island of Isla Guadalupe, Baja. The film explores many of the issues surrounding these highly misunderstood animals, the efforts of dedicated shark researchers to study and protect them, and the unique cooperative relationship that exists between the researchers and eco-tourism operations.

"These are absolutely magnificent creatures living on a razor's edge of possible extinction. And there are some very dedicated people working tirelessly to prevent that. This is a story that needed to be told," says Richard Theiss, RTSea Productions, executive producer and cinematographer.

Theiss came to see Isla Guadalupe's great white sharks three years ago as a passenger aboard a shark diving expedition led by Shark Diver.com, a leading eco-tourism operator that charters boats from San Diego, California to make the 210-mile journey south to Isla Guadalupe. What started out as an exciting adventure turned into a passion to document the work of Mauricio Hoyos Padilla, a young Mexican shark researcher, working under the supervision of leading shark experts in the United States and Mexico and aided by the support of eco-tourism operators, like Shark Diver.com, that frequent the island in the fall months when migrating great white sharks arrive to feed on seals and tuna that inhabit the island's waters.

Island of the Great White Shark, featuring dramatic underwater close-ups of great white sharks and exclusive footage of various research techniques, paints a portrait of the great white shark as a vital but cautious ocean predator - in contrast to its more public image as a malevolent man-eater. The film also illustrates the destructive and inhumane practices imposed upon sharks by the commercial shark fishing industry. Estimates run from 40 million to as high as 100 million sharks being killed each year either for their fins or as accidental by-catch. "Sharks populations are being decimated - all for a bowl of soup or a supposed homeopathic cure. For great whites, like those at Isla Guadalupe, you have to add the threat of poachers seeking souvenir jaws and teeth from one of nature's top predators. It's insanity and emblematic of what's wrong with our environmental priorities," says Theiss.

About RTSea Productions
RTSea Productions, based in Irvine, California, is dedicated to capturing nature and underwater images that will impress and move viewers to preserve and protect our precious natural resources - above and below the waves. RTSea has provided video and still production services for National Geographic, PBS, InMER, Aquarium of the Pacific, and others.